Bow holder



Sept. 7, 1965 J. E. DEEX 3,204,305

BOW HOLDER Filed Oct. 25, 1963 3 Mllll-l\\\\\\\\\ Fig.5

INVENTOR. James Efleex BY M & MA

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,204,305 BOW HOLDER James E. Deex, 507McKinley St., North Canton, Ohio Filed Oct. 25, 1963, 'Ser. No. 319,0374 Claims. (CI. 24-49) The invention relates to a bow holder for formingbows in string ties and other flexible elements. The bow holder is inthe form of a slide around or through which the string or the like ispassed to form and hold the same in a bow.

Although the device is primarily intended for converting theconventional bolo string tie to a bow tie, it shou d be understood thatthe use of the invention is not confined solely to string ties but mayalso be used as a belt bow holder, hat band bow holder, or may beapplied to a shoe tie closure or decoration for moccasins, slippers orboots.

The invention may also be applied to packages for decorative tying ofbows, and other uses of bows in decorations, or the tying of bowsconsisting of cloth, string, plastic, wire, cable or any other flexibleelement from which bows may be formed.

The slide or bow holder to which the invention pertains may be in theform of a ring, box, plate, block, or the like provided with variouscombinations of slots, apertures, pins, cored or drilled holes, or thelike, through or around which a string tie or other flexible element maybe inserted or passed. Such ring, box, plate, block or .the like may beformed of metal, plastic, bone, ivory,

wood, glass or any other material lending itself to specific uses towhich it may be put.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a bow holder in theform of a slide for a string tie, or other flexible element, having asuitable arrangement of openings or pins therein or thereon, through oraround which a string tie or other flexible element may be threaded soas to form a bow.

The above and other objects together with others which will be apparentfrom the drawing and following description, or which may be laterreferred to, may be attained by constructing the improved bow holder inthe manner hereinafter described in detail and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which;

FIG. '1 is a front elevation of a string tie provided with a preferredembodiment of the bow holder, by means of which the string tie is formedinto a bow tie;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the partially formed blank, of sheet metalor the like, from which the bow holder i FIG. 1 is formed;

FIG. 3 is an edge elevation of the partially formed blank shown in FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the completed bow holder slide formed fromthe blank of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the completed bow holderslide shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation of the slide with the ends of a string tieinserted;

FIG. 7 is a rear elevation, with parts broken away, of a modified formof bow holder slide, in the shape of a rectangular box, with openings inits top, bottom and end walls, showing a string threaded therethrough;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the bow holder slide shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevation of another modification of the 3,234,305Patented Sept. 7, 1965 invention, in the form of a circular box withapertures in its edges, and showing a crossing or alternatingarrangement of string or other flexible element;

FIG. 10 is an edge elevation of the bow holder slide shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a rear elevation of another modification in the form of aplate having pins upon its rear surface between which the ends of astring are inserted;

FIG. 12 is a rear elevation of a still further form of the invention,similar to that shown in FIG. 9, excepting that double width slots areshown at the top and bottom to receive two thicknesses of the string, asin FIGS. 7 and 8; and

FIGS. 13 and 14 are a front elevation and an edge elevation,respectively, of another form of the invention which comprises a solidblock having alternate staggered cored or drilled holes therethrough toreceive the string.

Referring now more particularly to the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIGS. 1-6, the bow holder slide is in the form of a ring,indicated generally at 1, formed of sheet metal or other suitablematerial.

This device is made from a blank, indicated generally at 2 in FIGS. 2and 3. This blank, as stamped in the first operation, comprises the ringportion 3 having the central annular flange 4, and the four equallyspaced radially disposed fingers 5, each of which is arcuate in crosssection, as best shown in FIG. 3.

All edges of the ring 3, annular flange 4 and fingers 5 are rounded incross section, so as not to present any sharp or rough edges which mightcause injury to the wearer or damage to his or her clothing.

Each of the fingers 5 is then bent upward and backward, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 5, to substantially circular shape, the end thereofcontacting the annular flange 4. These formed fingers thus provideopenings or passages through which the string tie or other flexibleelement may be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the two ends of the string 6 are first passedthrough the two upper formed finger-s 5, then around each side of thecentral annular flange 4, as indicated at 7, then through the two lowerformed fingers 5, the ends 8 of the string then hanging loosely in themanner of the ordinary bolo or string tie.

The string tie may thus be worn as the conventional bolo tie if desired.However, if it is desired to form a bow tie, the two portions of thestring indicated at 7--7 in FIG. 6 are pulled outward from the rear toform the loops 711 as shown in FIG. 1, thus forming a how. Theconventional tips 9 may be applied to the ends 8 of the string, as shownin FIG. '1, after they have been inserted through the bow holder slideas above described.

In order to wear the tie shown in FIG. 1, as with the conventionalstring tie the slide 1 is pulled down upon the string tie, making theloop 10 thereof large enough to place over the head and around and underthe shirt collar. Then, as in normal practice, the slide 1 is pushed upinto place.

Then, the portions 7 of the string indicated in FIG. 6, are pulledoutward from the rear to form the loops 7a of the bow, as shown inFIG. 1. These loops of course may be formed as large as desired withinthe limits of the string tie.

If difliculty is experienced in pulling the portion 7 of the string outto form the loops of the bow, one of the tips 9 may be used for thispurpose.

In order to remove the tie, both tips of the string are pulled down,eliminating the bow loops 7a. The slide may then be pulled downsufficiently to enlarge the loop 10 of the tie so it may be removed frombeneath the wearers collar and over his head.

Although the device as above described is preferably formed of sheetmetal in the manner illustrated and described, it should be understoodthat it may be formed in this shape by any other means and from anysuitable material.

In FIGS. 7 and 8 is shown a modification of the invention, in which thebow-forming and holding slide, indicated generally at In, is illustratedas being in the form of a rectangular box, which may be formed of any ofthe materials above mentioned, or of any other material suitable for theuse to which it is to be put.

This box 1a has a face or front wall 11, top and bottom walls 12 and 13respectively, and end walls 14, and may be open at the back as shown inthe drawing. Elongated slots 15 and 16 are formed in the top and bottomwalls 12 and '13 respectively, and similar slots 17 are formed in theend walls 14. Pins 18 are located through the centers of the slots 17,dividing each into two openings, one upon each side 'of the pin.

The string, indicated at 6a, has the large loop 10 a adapted to passover the wearers head and around and beneath his collar, locatedupwardly through the upper slot 15. The bow loops 7b are formed bypassing the ends of the string outwardly through each end slot 17 abovethe adjacent pin 18 and then inwardly beneath the pin.

The ends 8a of the string are then passed downward out of the boxthrough the lower slot 16. It should be understood that, if desired, theupper and lower slots 15 and 16 respectively, may also be dividedcentrally by pins in the same manner as the end slots 17.

It will also be understood that, instead of providing an elongated slotas 17, with pinas 18 through the center, to divide the slot into twoopenings, two separate apertures may be formed in the wall at the box,through which the string may be threaded in the same manner as abovedescribed.

In FIGS. 9 and 10 is shown another modification of the invention inwhich the slide is in the form of a circular box having the face orfront wall 19 which may be circular as shown, and the peripheral flangeor wall 20 having eight spaced openings therein, as indicated at 21.

The string 6b may be threaded through the openings 21 in the same manneras shown in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7,

or may be threaded in the crossing or-alternating arrangement indicatedin FIG. 9. In either event, the large loop 10b is formed to go over thewearers head and around his neck, the bow loops 7:: are formed as abovedescribed, and the depending ends 8c of the string are all as shown inFIG. 9.

Another modification of the invention is shown in FIG. 11, in which aplate 22 has eight equally spaced pins 23 attached to the rear surfacethereof. The string may be inserted between these pins in the samemanner that it is inserted through the apertures in the various forms ofthe invention above described.

If desired, a rear plate may be attached to the rear ends of the pins23, so as to form with the plate 22 a box comprising front and backplates connected by spaced pins.

In FIG. 12 is shown another modification in which the front wall 24 hasthe rearwardly disposed annular flange 25 in which are provided slotsthrough which the string may be inserted. If desired, the top and bottomslots 26 may be double as in the manner of the slots 15 and 16 in theform of FIGS. 7 and 8, with'single apertures 27 therebetween. Ifdesired, two apertures may be provided at the top and bottom instead ofeach of the double slots 26.

In FIGS. 13 and 14 is shown still another modification of the inventionin which the slide is in the form of a block 28, formed of any suitablematerial having alternate, staggered, cored or drilled holes 29 therein,providing a combination of eight openings around the periphery of theblock as shown, through which the string may be inserted if worn as abow. Although the holes 29 are shown in the drawing as straight, theseholes may be arcuate or curved if desired.

The slides for forming and holding bows may be decorated with stones orother decorations attached to the face, sides or back thereof by anysuitable means, such as prongs, glue, paint, enamel, or may be decoratedby fancy stamping or the like.

As a further means of decoration, the slide or holder may be of any.geometric or other desired shape, such for instance as triangular,hexagonal, oval, heart-shaped or any other shape which may be decorativeor add to the pleasing appearance of the device.

Although the bow holder, to which the invention pertains, has beendescribed primarily as for use upon a string tie, it should beunderstood that the invention is adaptable for forming and holding bowsupon belts, hat bands, shoe strings, or in fact any flexible element ofany material without any change in the construction as illustrated anddescribed.

In the foregoingdescription certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because suchwords are used for descriptive purposes herein and are intended to bebroadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiments of the improved construction illustrated anddescribed herein are by way of example, and the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to the exact detailsof construction.

Having now described the invention or discovery, the construction, theoperation, and use of preferred embodiments thereof, and theadvantageous new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and usefulconstruction, and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious tothose skilled in the art, are set forth in the appended claims.

, I claim:

1. A bow holder for a string-like element comprising an annular slidemember having a central annular flange,

four equally spaced integral fingers around the periphery of the annularslide member, said fingers being curved upwardly and inwardly toward theedge of said annular flange and forming therewith eyelets of suificientdiameter to permit the string-like element to be threaded therethrough,said eyelets being of considerably less width than the spacestherebetween, whereby the string-like element may be pulled outwardly toform loops at three of said spaces and'opposite end portions of thestringlike element may be located in the fourth space.

2. A bow holder for a string-like element comprising an annular slidemember of arcuate cross section having a central annular flange, fourequally spaced integral fingers around the periphery of the annularslide member, said fingers being curved upwardly and inwardly toward theedge of said annular flange and forming therewith eyelets of sufiicientdiameter to permit the string-like element to be threaded therethrough,said eyelets being of considerably less width than the spacestherebetween, whereby the string-like element may be pulled outwardly toform loops at three of said spaces and opposite end portions of thestring-like element may be located in the fourth space.

3. A bow holder for a string-like element comprising an annular slidemember having a central annular flange, four equally spaced integralfingers around the periphery of the annular slide member, said fingersbeing of arcuate cross section and being curved upwardly and in-.

wardly toward the edge of said annular flange and forming therewitheyelets of sufiicient diameter to permit the string-like element to bethreaded therethrough, said eye lets being of considerably less widththan the spaces therebetween, whereby the string-like element may bepulled outwardly to form loops at three of said spaces and opposite endportions of the string-like element may be located in the fourth space.

4. A bow holder for a string-like element comprising an annular slidemember of arcuate cross section having a central annular flange, fourequally spaced integral fingers around the periphery of the annularslide memher, said fingers being of arcuate cross section and beingcurved upwardly and inwardly toward the edge of said annular flange andforming therewith eyelets of sufficient diameter to permit thestring-like element to be threaded therethrough, said eyelets being ofconsiderably less width than the spaces therebetween, whereby thestring-like 6 element may be pulled outwardly to form loops at three ofsaid spaces and opposite end portions of the stringlike element may belocated in the fourth space.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 746,178 12/03Seaman 24-129 1,062,491 5/13 Mershon 24--18 1,468,352 9/23 Brooks 2923102,808,043 10/57 Lombard 24-129 X 2,932,072 4/60 Pruchnow 24129.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 408,905 4/34 Great Britain.

553,055 12/56 Italy.

DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner.

1. A BOW HOLDER FOR A STRING-LIKE ELEMENT COMPRISING AN ANNULAR SLIDEMEMBER HAVING A CENTRAL ANNULAR FLANGE, FOUR EQUALLY SPACED INTEGRALFINGERS AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE ANNULAR SLIDE MEMBER, SAID FINGERSBEING CURVED UPWARDLY AND INWARDLY TOWARD THE EDGE OF SAID ANNULARFLANGE AND FORMING THEREWITH EYELETS OF SUFFICIENT DIAMETER TO PERMITTHE STRING-LIKE ELEMENT TO BE THREADED THERETHROUGH, SAID EYELETS BEINGOF CONSIDERABLY LESS WIDTH